Using an ethnohistorical method which combines archival material with ethnographic material collected mostly by anthropologists, this thesis provides a history of Tlingit women's interaction with the Presbyterian missions. The Presbyterians, who began their work among the Tlingit of southeastern Alaska in the 1870s, were particularly concerned with the introduction of "appropriate" gender roles. Although participating in the roles and activities defined by the Presbyterians as "women's work", Tlingit women incorporated Presbyterian forms of practice into their own cultural frames of reference. The end result, unintended by the missionaries, was that Tlingit women were provided with a new power base.

Using an ethnohistorical method which combines archival material with ethnographic material collected mostly by anthropologists, this thesis provides a history of Tlingit women's interaction with the Presbyterian missions. The Presbyterians, who began their work among the Tlingit of southeastern Alaska in the 1870s, were particularly concerned with the introduction of "appropriate" gender roles. Although participating in the roles and activities defined by the Presbyterians as "women's work", Tlingit women incorporated Presbyterian forms of practice into their own cultural frames of reference. The end result, unintended by the missionaries, was that Tlingit women were provided with a new power base. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate